Winter Black Belt Grading 2019

Written on 10 December 2019.

The INTA Winter Black Belt Grading 2019 took place in the Maldron Hotel in Tallaght, Co. Dublin, on Saturday 7 December.

A team of five 7th Dan Masters graded the eleven candidates going for 1st Dan. These aspirant black belts were tested in groups of four or five for basic movements, patterns, self-defense and 1, 2 & 3-step sparring. The same groups were later called to the floor for sparring. After a short break, the candidates presented themselves individually for the theory and power test. All twenty-one applicants passed to first degree.

Grand Master O'Toole was flanked by Master Douglas and Master Martin, to form the grading panel for those going for 2nd Dan or above. A total of fifteen black belts hoped to promote to a higher degree. Unfortunately, two candidates didn't succeed.

At the presentation of the results, all who promoted successfully were presented with an INTA Black Belt Certificate; the official ITF certificate will be sent out at a later date.